Smiling in the rain

Chapter 3: Elsa

Songs for this chapter:

Demons~ Imagine Dragons

***

My black blouse uncomfortably sticks to my skin in this humid weather in the assembly hall. The monotonous voice at the podium has been droning on for at least 10 minutes with the 'Welcome, I'm sure you'll have a lovely time' shit. I press my thumbs against my temples in an attempt to possibly transport myself somewhere else. I roll my eyes and for the tenth time, and zone out again, choosing another indistinct point on the wall to stare at. I'm sitting next to the upstart Fallon chick, who when I last sneaked a glimpse at her, was sitting upright in her chair, absorbing every god-damn detail the voice was saying. I haven't seen that slut Karen since we 'met' in the dorms. I don't want to have to ask damn Fiona for the details of the assembly so I decide to perk up and listen. My conscience catches on the word assessments.

'As I have previously mentioned, you will be sorted into house groups. These of course, are assessed on your personality and character traits. Each one of you is unique, but you will be able to bond closely with those in your own house,' the woman finishes with a sickly sweet smile which almost raises bile from the back my throat. 'Students, please make yourselves at home. We would like you to achieve your full potential out of your time here at Woodlands Grammar. Teachers, please escort your classes to their homerooms. You are dismissed.'

Noise breaks the strained silence as kids shout obscenities to their friends on the other side of the hall. The sounds reverberates off the walls and I have to block my ears to keep myself sane.

Freda turns to me and flashes a bright smile, 'This is so exciting! Once we go back to the dorms I'm going to have to arrange my student planner and sort out my syllabus...' she rambles on, gesturing wildly with her hands, unaware that I had tuned out to the crap she was blurting.

'Have you found out your homeroom?' she asks, unable to contain her enthusiasm. I simply don't understand why she's so exuberant about this.

'No,' I reply bluntly. 'And I don't intend to.'

'Oh, come on, silly! Put a smile on your face for once!' she tugs on my arm, propelling me along. I plant the cheesiest smile across my face, bat my eyelashes and seethe through my teeth, 'This better?'

She groans inwardly and rolls her eyes playfully. She continues to guide me out of the sea of sweaty bodies. Even though I don't want her help, I'm grateful, but I'll never show it. We finally make it through the crowd and are pushed out into the grounds by the sheer force. We reach the notice board where again, a crowd of students are checking for their homerooms. We stand patiently behind the group for at least a minute until I'm fed up. I grab Fiona's hand and lunge through the swarm. I am granted a couple of snarky comments and disgusted expressions, but I think my, 'I don't give a shit about you' expression is enough to tell them who's superior.

'Why do you have to be so rude, Elsa?' she whines, furrowing her brows. 'We could have wait-'

I cut across her sharply, 'I don't do, 'waiting'.'

She groans and skims the pad of her index finger down the list, tracking her name and mine. She does the complete unexpected and wraps her arms around my neck, bouncing up down on the balls of her feet. I feel my muscles tense under her touch and I think she notices, because she pulls away from the affectionate gesture immediately. She doesn't seem to loose her excitement though because she squeals in my ear, 'We're in the same homeroom!'

'Two things if you're going to hang around me. One, don't bundle me into a hug and two, don't squeal into my ear. You could've destroyed my eardrum for eternity,' I say firmly, crossing my arms in front of me.